Verizon has released their Q4 2011 financial results and they seem to have done fairly well for themselves -- 18.3 billion in gross profits, up 7.7%. Wireless revenue was up 13% with data revenue up 19.2%. (And yes, in case you were wondering, that's why carriers want data-hungry devices like iPhones on their network.)

iPhone sales numbers weren't disclosed in the results but Verizon had previously stated 4.2 million of Apple's handsets went out the door last quarter. That's double the previous quarter, which is impressive considering overall smartphone sales were short.

It will be interesting to see the next few quarters when the iPhone 4S isn't the newest, hottest handset on the market and rival platforms start to release their big hero devices.